store

store, commonly a shop or other establishment for the retail sale of commodities, but also a place where wholesale supplies are kept, exhibited, or sold. Retailing—the sale of merchandise to the consumer—is one of the oldest businesses in the world and was practiced in prehistoric times.

Total retail sales, including motor vehicles but excluding e-commerce and catalog sales, topped $4.5 trillion in the United States in 2018. Currently, there are more than 1 million retail establishments employing some 29 million people. Most are small; about 60% have fewer than 10 employees. Larger stores, with over $500,000 in annual sales, account for more than two thirds of all retail sales. The 50 largest retailers account for more than a third of all sales, and stores with 100 or more branches account for 97% of all department store sales, 70% of all drugstore sales, 71% of all shoe sales, and 76% of all grocery store sales.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Development of Retail Stores
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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